


in every way

by emavee



Series: Dick & Dami Week 2021 [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Adoption, Dick Grayson is Damian Wayne's Parent, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 03:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29943546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emavee/pseuds/emavee
Summary: Dick takes a page out of Bruce's book and adopts his Robin. Damian starts to learn just how loved he is.For Dick & Dami Week 2021: Adoption Papers
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne
Series: Dick & Dami Week 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2198052
Comments: 7
Kudos: 160





	in every way

“This is your last chance to change your mind, Damian. Are you absolutely sure you want this?”

Damian fidgets, playing with the sleeves of his sweatshirt. The cuffs have been stretched out by his habitual nervous tugging, much to Alfred’s dismay. His nervousness just makes Dick even more anxious that this was a bad idea. 

It’s not that he doesn’t want this. He does. He  _ loves _ Damian, is so incredibly proud of him and his progress. When he looks at him, there’s a constant beat of  _ my kid, that’s my kid _ pounding in his chest. The papers would just make those feelings official.

And he remembers being ten and living with Bruce. He used to be so scared of his place in Bruce’s life. For a long time, he hadn’t been officially adopted, but that didn’t mean Bruce wasn’t his dad, at least in Dick’s own head, even while he waited in an uncomfortable state of limbo as Bruce’s foster son but not his adopted one. Dick never wants Damian to feel the way he used to, so unsure of his place. Damian deserves stability and unconditional love, and Dick wants to make sure that he knows he will always have that with him.

But he also remembers how scared he used to be that he was replacing his dad with Bruce. Damian barely had any time to get to know Bruce in person, but he grew up hearing stories about him. All he’s ever wanted was to make his dad proud. Dick would understand completely if Damian wasn’t ready to lose that connection to his father. He wants to give Damian an out, just in case. All he wants is for his kid to be happy.

“Are you really, completely sure? If you decide you don’t want to, it’s fine. Absolutely nothing will change. You’ll still have a place in this family, and I will still love you exactly the same.”

“Do you want me to say no?” Damian asks.

Dick jolts in surprise. “It’s not about me,” he says slowly. “This is all about you, Damian. And what you want.”

All Dick wants is for Damian to be happy. That's all he'll ever want. Dick's feelings about the matter aren't relevant. 

Damian nods, but he doesn’t look reassured by Dick’s words. “Right.” His sleeves are going to be ruined by the end of this. “But… What if it  _ did _ matter to me, what you wanted?”

It takes Dick a moment to understand, but once it sinks in, he feels like such an _idiot._

“Damian, hey.” He crouches down, grabbing Damian’s hands to stop him from fidgeting. “Look at me, kiddo. Hey. I want this, okay? You’re my Robin. You’re my kid. And I would love nothing more than to make that official. You are so wanted, Damian. I want this more than anything.”

Damian nods, offering Dick a smile. Relief blooms in his chest, alleviating a painful tightness he hadn’t even realized had been squeezing his heart.

“I too want this,” Damian says, finally lifting his chin from where he’s been observing his own shoes for the majority of the conversation. “So you can stop asking me, Grayson. You should know by now that I would not allow this otherwise.”

“I know. I guess I’m just…” Dick sighs, afraid that Damian might misinterpret his words if he’s not careful. “It doesn’t matter. I was being stupid.”

“You do that often,” Damian says, grinning wickedly. “It is nothing new.”

Dick rolls his eyes before returning his gaze back to the courthouse in front of them. “Yeah, well you better get used to it,” he says. Ignoring Damian’s indignant protests, he scoops the kid up into his arms. “Because you’re about to have to put up with me for the rest of your life.”

“Grayson, put me down! I am not a child!” He squirms, but not enough to dislodge himself from Dick’s hold, and they both know that if Damian really wanted out of Dick’s hold, he would be by now. When he glances at Damian—at  _ his kid, _ soon to be official—he’s wearing the widest grin that Dick has ever seen on his face, and feels so overwhelmingly proud to have put it there.

“Never,” Dick says with a grin. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to stop smiling.

* * *

_ It’s official. Damian is his and it’s  _ official.

Dick feels like he’s floating, the closest thing he’s ever gotten to the feeling of flying while his feet are still planted firmly on the ground. Damian is his kid. Damian is his  _ son. _

They’d signed the papers together, and Dick had swept  _ his kid _ up into his arms before the ink had even dried. 

After Bruce died, and everything had gotten so, so messed up with Tim, Dick had been drowning. Being Batman, taking care of Gotham, dealing with Hush and with Jason, worrying about Tim and Cass and Stephanie—it had all been so much. Too much. He’d never wanted to wear the cowl, especially not while grieving a father again.

Damian… hadn’t exactly made it easy. Dick had been an imposter to him, one unfit to carry his father’s mantle. He’d been a difficult kid, even though Dick knew that it came from a place of hurt and confusion. He’d tried to be patient, to remember that this was how Damian was raised. That was Talia and Ra’s and the League of Assassins, not who Damian is as his core.

And he was right. Damian is good. Damian is so, so good. And raising him, that saved Dick. Having Damian to love and take care of kept his head above water, gave him something good in his life to hang on to. 

He doesn’t know when he’d stopped looking at Damian and thinking  _ my little brother  _ and when he’d started thinking  _ my kid, _ but he did, and now the world will know too. 

“My little Robin,” Dick can’t help but whisper into Damian’s hair as they walk towards the car. He can practically hear his mom’s voice in his ear, murmuring those same words. He likes to think that she’s looking down on him right now, on him and Damian. 

“You are always the one harping on me about using the wrong names,” Damian chides quietly. He allows Dick to hold him for another ten seconds before pulling away and stepping back.

Dick chuckles. “Sorry, I know. It’s just, that’s what my mom used to call me.”

Damian blinks, looking stunned. “Your mother called you Robin?” 

“That’s where the name came from, yeah. My mom. I wanted to honor her.”

“Oh.” Damian goes quiet. “I wasn’t aware.”

Dick squeezes his shoulder. “I never said anything. None of the others know either, so. You’re special.” 

The others were Robins, family, Dick’s incredible, wonderful siblings. But Damian is different. Damian is  _ his Robin. _ Damian isn’t his little brother the same way Tim and Jay are. Damian is his son.

“Won’t they…” Damian frowns, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “Won’t they be disappointed?” 

“Hm? Who, Damian?”

“Your parents. The Flying Graysons. Won’t they be disappointed that… that a killer is now wearing their colors and using their name?”

Dick sucks in a sharp breath, then kneels down to Damian’s level, his hands on his kid’s shoulders. “First of all, there isn’t a killer wearing their colors. You aren’t a killer, Damian.”

He _hates_ when Damian thinks of himself that way. Damian is so, so much more than his past.

“But I’ve—”

“The only person wearing their colors right now is an amazing kid with a massive heart who chooses to do good every single day. Damian, they would  _ adore _ you. They would love you so much, just like I do.”

Damian is quiet, and Dick realizes with a jolt that his eyes are wet. “I don’t think that you see me very accurately, Grayson.”

“You’re wrong,” Dick says, soft but firm, leaving no room for Damian to argue with him about this. “I think I’m the only person who sees you for who you really are. No one else seems to realize just how incredible you are, and I will never understand how. You inspire me every single day, Damian. You make me a better person. You are so, so good, so amazing, and I will say it every single day until you start seeing yourself the same way I do.”

Damian flushes bright pink at that. “I suppose you are smart enough to not sign those papers if you didn’t believe at least some of what you are alleging.”

“Damn right,” Dick says. “I am smart. And that in there? That was the smartest decision I’ve ever made.”

Damian lunges forward suddenly, throwing his arms around Dick’s neck and practically slamming into his chest. Dick wobbles for only a moment before returning the embrace with just as much force.

“Thank you,” Damian whispers. 

“Thank  _ you, _ kiddo,” Dick corrects, kissing the top of his head. “Thank you for letting me know you and love you. Thank you for letting me be…”

“I’m proud too,” Damian says. His voice wobbles just slightly and Dick automatically tightens his grip around him. “I am proud to be your Robin and… and to be your son.”

Yeah, Dick had better get used to aching cheeks now, because he is never going to stop smiling ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> your honor, i love them


End file.
